Most Important Meal of the Day
by najella
Summary: 'My Clydey sense told me that somewhere a Smith was attempting to cook.'


Sarah Jane's kitchen is a flurry of activity when Rani meanders over there before school. The Bannerman hive mind must have activated again, because Clyde is there too, nicking slices of toast from Sky's plate and even Luke has forgone his morning lie-in to take control of the oven, hunched over a pan of sizzling bacon in his silly blue pyjamas.

It's all very domestic in her little extended family.

Sarah Jane is switching between typing furiously on her laptop and jumping up every five minutes to find something else to put in her handbag, and that's why Rani finds her forcing a hardback copy of Alan Sugar's biography between her glasses case and her journo recorder.

'Off somewhere?' she asked, skimming the article on corrupt reality show practices. She had read it a million times now, trying to follow the reasoning behind her revisions so she could apply it to her own amateur articles. There were some competitions she was planning on entering and she wanted all the tips she could get.

And because it was a majorly cool story involving celebrities.

'Just a small press conference, I don't normally do these things, I barely remember what I should take,' she leant over her laptop to replace "impress" with "emphasise".

'That's so mad. Will anyone famous be there?'

'Oh, maybe,' Sarah Jane said vaguely. Then she tutted and smiled at Rani apologetically. 'Sorry, I said I'd bring you along for some work experience, didn't I? If it wasn't a school day... But I think your dad might noticed if you bunked off, don't you?' She winked and Rani laughed, disappointed but pleased Sarah Jane had remembered her at all.

'It's fine, just promise you'll look over my articles when you come back.'

'I promise. Look at me, running around like this at my age. Luke agreed to do a quick breakfast for me and Sky to save time this morning...' She trailed off with a look towards the small mountain of dishes Luke was collecting around him. She lowered her voice and leaned towards Rani, 'I swear, when he cooks I discover saucepans in my sink I never even knew I had. Oh!' She slapped her forehead lightly, turning around in a circle again. 'My lippy! Can't forget that, you never know what you'll get with actors,' and she ducked out of the room, waving one hand over her head as she thundered up the stairs.

Rani laughed, heading to the kitchen and pulling Clyde's stolen toast from his hands.

'Oi!' He protested, 'Don't they feed the headmaster's daughter over there?'

'And you forgot how to work the toaster in your house, did you?' she retorted, reaching for some butter. Sky currently had a thing about mixing textures at breakfast, and seemed to be cultivating an obsession with bone-dry bread.

'Yeah, but my Clydey sense told me that somewhere a Smith was attempting to cook. It's been ages since I updated my YouTube account.'

Luke shook his frying pan a little harsher than necessary. 'Yeah, well it's turning out alright. Except for the...' He waved his spatula over at a dirty bowl and what appeared to be a sad attempt at some cardboard pancakes. Or possibly very thin omelettes. Rani couldn't be sure. He finished with a pitiful 'It's seven thirty,' which was possibly a more rubbish excuse for a failed breakfast than the time Rani's mum had tried to convince her and dad that cold takeaway chips someone had forgotten to throw out last night were a beach holiday breakfast tradition.

'Can't wait until I leave school and start having breakdowns over waking up at seven in the morning,'

'But you already do.'

Clyde shouldered Luke hard enough to send him stumbling several steps. 'Let an expert take care of it, whiner.'

Luke collapsed at the table, immediately planting his face into the wood and closing his eyes.

Sky patted his arm. 'I thought the toast was really good.' She didn't seem to know what to do with the muffled grunt she got back.

Rani shared an exasperated look with Clyde and set out to distract Sky from starting another Bizarre Mutual Sibling Misunderstanding. 'Sky! What have I told you about school ties?'

She wiped her crumby hands on Clyde's back while Sky cradled her tie protectively. It was always adorable how tiny the littl'uns at school were in their massive ties, and it was true most of the kids in Sky's year hadn't started messing with the uniform yet, but Rani had a vision of Sky as a fashion trailblazer. Sky was still a little reluctant, not understanding the system well enough to know when to push the boundaries, but that was why she had cool sixth form mentors to show her the shortcut to fitting in.

Admittedly, she'd tried to follow Rani's advice and had wrapped the knot twice more than necessary, but it still looked more like a little kid dressing up in daddy's business clothes than Coolest Girl at Park Vale chic.

'Sarah Jane _and_ Mister Smith said this was the appropriate style,' She protested, and then again when Rani fought her hands away and pulled the fabric free around her neck.

'Got a very hands-on method there, Rani,' Luke commented, chin propped on his wrists now. Clyde made some joke about girls she missed over the sound of Sky squealing, but it was all very well for them to laugh. Sky wasn't Luke 2.0 or anything. Luke had always wanted explanations that maybe he'd pay quiet attention to, and then he'd go away and do whatever the hell he wanted. Sky was more outwardly rebellious, more socially adept, and most importantly she was shorter than Rani and Clyde. There was still a chance she could have a modicum of cool beaten into her.

They were going to have a chat about exactly how high hair could be volumnised next.

Clyde appeared over the table with the frying pan, ending the battle by splattering hot oil everywhere. 'Who's for bacon? Here Sparky, I saved the best rashers for the coolest looking girl in the room.' He winked at Rani, piling bacon on her plate. She nodded her appreciation as she pulled the loop tight, locking the bottom of Sky's tie just inches down her chest.

Rani always wished her dad saw Clyde in these moments, and not for the first time since Sky turned up on the doorstep the idle thought crossed her mind that Clyde himself would make a great dad too.

To someone. Else. Many years in the future.

'Is that me?' Sky crowed, so delighted that her new status brought her perks that she stopped messing with Rani's alterations. The lights flickered overhead. Luke looked up in surprise, the only one who wasn't yet used to the lecky going on the blink whenever Sky felt something other than faint tweenage ennui.

It was like a metaphor or something.

'Watch it,' Sarah Jane chastised gently, storming back into the room and bringing her frenzy of movement into their quiet little family moment. She checked her article again, probably necessary this time after Sky's enthusiastic contributions, although there was no hope for her if she hadn't gotten into the habit of saving her work every five minutes by now.

Sky dangled her breakfast off the end of her fork, inspecting it intently.

'Clyde,' She said slowly, in that wondering tone they were growing used to. 'Are you sure you've cooked the bacon right?'

'Are you doubting my skills?' Clyde sniffed, making some quick bacon butties out of the toast. Enough for the both of them at break, Rani noticed with fondness.

'It's got pink bits on it!' She said, pursing her lips sceptically at a bemused Clyde.

'Yeah, well it's pig meat, Sky. They're pink.'

Luke sighed with theatrical aplomb. 'Mum's cooking claims another victim.' He bent his head conspiratorially towards his sister. 'You know, for six months I thought people were supposed to have ham salad sandwiches every night.'

Sarah Jane rose sharply, in the way only a mum could, and pulled Sky into a hug. 'Cheeky! What is this, you two? Pick on mum day?'

Sky bit her cheek but she couldn't stop her muffled giggles from escaping as she pressed her face into Sarah Jane's waistcoat. Luke grinned at her sheepishly and leaned crazily around Clyde's back without getting out of his chair to give her a reluctant kiss goodbye on the cheek. It was a move that only an idiot teenage boy could manage.

Rani, for her part, wasn't sure this was a joke Sky would have immediately understood without a bit of context to judge how literal the statement was and a patient explanation of appropriate dining habits. Which meant they had to have cooked this up beforehand to torment Sarah Jane.

So there was an undercover third party assisting in Sky's ascendance to absolute cool.

'Right, I'm off. You all take care, don't make a mess!' Sarah Jane pointed a finger at Luke who feigned sleepy confusion and innocence.

'I would never, mum.'

'Yes,' she hugged Sky again, patting Clyde on the back as she moved past him to grab her handbag. 'Keep an eye on him Sky, make sure he doesn't completely destroy my living room before I get back.'

Sky nodded solemnly and Clyde threw out a reminder to get Alan Sugar's autograph but Sarah Jane was half-listening and half-way out the door.

'You'll have to feign a sickie next time Rani,' Clyde told her, 'Wait for your dad to leave and make a pact with Sarah Jane to meet her outside Sainsbury's wearing dark sunglasses.'

'Why would you wear glasses?' Sky asked.

'Never mind.' She wound an arm around Luke's neck, squeezing and ruffling his hair when he started whinging her name. 'Alright wonder twins, some of us have all the time in the world to lie around collecting splinters for our face, but the rest of us are going to be late.'

At her behest, goodbyes were said, tinfoil packages of sandwiches were distributed, and bags were collected. It went off as neatly as a military operation. Clyde would have called it unreasonable bossiness, but no one was asking him. Sky's backpack was tidily hung over the banister and recovered by its owner at her prompting.

'Aw, it's not fair Luke has to stay at home. He'll miss all the fun at school.' The saddest thing was how Sky said this with absolute sincerity. Luke, still sat in the kitchen, was acting out his despair at being left behind by pressing his cheek into the table and playing idly with toast crumbs.

'No worries, Sky. Thanks to Clyde's help, Luke has more than enough washing up fun to last him 'til you get home.'

Sky pursed her lips with one last glance back as she locked the door. 'I suppose that's okay.'

Clyde patted her shoulder and steered her out the driveway. 'But when you get home tonight, be sure to point out all the bits he's missed. He loves that.'

So maybe it was messy, rushed, slightly unethical morning, but honestly, Rani couldn't think of a better way to start the day than this.


End file.
